The Constitution of India

The Constitution of India

Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of the government and spells out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens. Passed by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, it came into effect on 26 January 1950. The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the declaration of independence of 1930. It declares the Union of India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty and to promote among them all fraternity; the words "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" and to promote among them all "Fraternity"; were added to the definition in 1976 by constitutional amendment. India celebrates the adoption of the constitution on 26 January each year as Republic Day. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 395 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 94 amendments, for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version. Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation. After coming into effect, the Constitution replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India. Being the supreme law of the country, every law enacted by the government must conform to the constitution. B. R. Ambedkar, as chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, was the chief architect of the Indian Constitution

Constituent Assembly

The Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by the elected members of the provincial assemblies. Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Nalini Ranjan Ghosh were some important figures in the Assembly. There were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi and R. K. Sidhwa. The Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gururng represented the Gorkha Community. Prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, B. R. Ambedkar, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi, Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur were important women members. The first president of the Constituent Assembly was Sachidanand Sinha later, Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly. The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in the year 1946 on 9 December.

Drafting

In the 14 August 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees was presented. Such committees included a Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee. On 29 August 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on 4 November 1947.

The Assembly met, in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on 24 January 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands.

Constitution of India has undergone 108 amendments in less than 60 years since its enactment.

Structure

The Constitution, in its current form, consists of a preamble, 22 parts containing 395 articles, 12 schedules, 5 appendices and 94 amendments to date. The Women's Reservation Bill, 2010, if passed by both houses of parliament and ratified by half of the states, would be 95th Amendment to the Constitution. Although it is federal in nature with strong unitary bias, in case of emergencies it takes unitary structure.

The Constitution of India was enacted, signed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949.

On January 26, 1950, the Constitution of India came into force on which date India also became a Republic. Our constitution makes detailed provisions for the following:

• Citizenship,
• Fundamental Rights,
• Directive Principles of State Policy,
• Structure of the Government,
• Parliament and State Legislatures,
• Supreme Court and High Courts,
• Relationship between the Union and the States,
• Services,
• Official Language and various other matters of basic importance

Salient Features of Constitution

1. It is the longest written constitution in the world.
2. Consisting of 22 Chapters, over 395 Articles and 12 Schedules.
3. It proclaims India a Sovereign Democratic Republic.
4. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed to all citizens of India.
5. Directive Principles of State Policy are incorporated.
6. It established the parliamentary system of government, i.e., the President of the Union is the constitutional head, the Council of Ministers or the Union Cabinet is the real executive and is responsible to the Lok Sabha.
7. It is federal in form (in normal times) but unitary in spirit (in emergencies).
8. It is neither too rigid (as some provisions can be amended by a simple majority) nor flexible (as some provisions require special majority for amendment).
9. It declares India a secular state.
10. It guarantees single citizenship to all citizens.
11. It introduced adult franchise, i.e., every adult above 18 years has the right to vote and the system of joint electorates.
12. It established an independent judiciary; the Supreme Court acts as a guardian of the Constitution in place of the Privy Council.

The Preamble

The draft of the Preamble was prepared by Jawaharlal Nehru and is based on the American model. The 42nd Amendment added the words ``Secular and Socialist'' and now the preamble reads as follows.

``We the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens :

Justice; social, economic and political;
Liberty; of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
Equality; of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all;
Fraternity; assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation;

In our Constituent Assembly, November 26, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution.

Articles of the Constitution

Part I
Articles 1-4
Territory of India,, admission,, establishment or formation of new states

Part II
Articles 5-11
Citizenship

Part III
Articles 12-35
Fundamental Rights

Part IV
Articles 36-51
Directive Principles of State Policy

Part IV – A
Article 51-A
Duties of a citizen of India. It was added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976

Part V
Articles 52-151
Government at the Union level

Part VI
Articles 152-237
Government at the State level

Part VII
Article 238
Deals with states in Part B of the First Schedule. It was repealed by 7th Amendment in 1956

Part VIII
Articles 239-241
Administration of Union Territories

Part IX
Article 242-243
Territories in Part D of the First Schedule and other territories. It was repealed by 7th Amendment in 1956

Part X
Articles 244-244 A
Scheduled and tribal areas

Part XI
Articles 245-263
Relations between the Union and States

Part XII
Articles 264-300
Finance, property, contracts and suits

Part XIII
Articles 301-307
Trade,, commerce and travel within the territory of India

Part XIV
Articles 308-323
Services under the Union and States

Part XIV-A
Articles 323A-323B
Added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 and deals with administrative tribunals to hear disputes and other complaints

Part XV
Articles 324-329
Election and Election Commission

Part XVI
Articles 330-342
Special provision to certain classes ST/SC and Anglo Indians

Part XVII
Articles 343-351
Official languages

Part XVIII
Articles 352-360
Emergency provisions

Part XIX
Articles 361-367
Miscellaneous provision regarding exemption of the President and governors from criminal proceedings

Part XX
Article 368
Amendment of Constitution

Part XXI
Articles 369-392
Temporary,, transitional and special provisions

Part XXII
Articles 393-395
Short title, commencement and repeal of the Constitution

Schedules

FIRST SCHEDULE : I. The State, II. The Union Territories.

SECOND SCHEDULE :
PART A. Provisions to the President and the Governors of States
PART B. (Repeated)
PART C. Provisions as to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of a State.
PART D. Provisions as to the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts.
PART E. Provisions as to the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

THIRD SCHEDULE : Forms of Oaths or Affirmations.

FOURTH SCHEDULE : Allocation of Seats in the Council of States.

FIFTH SCHEDULE : Provisions as to the administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes.
PART A. General
PART B. Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes
PART C. Scheduled Areas
PART D. Amendment of the Schedule

SIXTH SCHEDULE : Provisions as to the administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

SEVENTH SCHEDULE :
LIST I. Union List
LIST II. State List
LIST III. Concurrent List

EIGHTH SCHEDULE : Languages

NINTH SCHEDULE : Article 31B

TENTH SCHEDULE : Provisions as to disqualification on the ground of defection

ELEVENTH SCHEDULE : Article 243G

TWELFTH SCHEDULE : Article 243W